Scripture Luke 24: 36-48
36 While they were still talking about
this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened,
thinking they saw a ghost.
38 He said to them, “Why are you
troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?
39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is
I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and
bones, as you see I have.”
40 When he had said this, he showed
them his hands and feet.
41 And while they still did not
believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything
here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of broiled
fish,
43 and he took it and ate it in their
presence.
44 He said to them, “This is what I
told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they
could understand the Scriptures.
46 He told them, “This is what is
written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
47 and repentance for the forgiveness
of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been
clothed with power from on high.”
Let us pray....
Sermon Christ
Among Us
Psychologist Carl Jung
invented the term the Wounded Healer. A wounded healer is when a healer, like a
doctor or a psychologist, is compelled to treat their patients because they
themselves have the same wounds that need to be treated. According to this archetype,
a doctor who has vision problems may be drawn to treat patients with vision
problems or a psychologist who had an alcoholic parent is more likely to treat
clients who have alcoholic parents.
Although Jung did not base his
concept on Jesus, Jesus fits Jung’s wounded healer archetype. Jesus was
wounded, and he loves and heals people who are wounded. After his resurrection,
Jesus showed his physical wounds to the people to whom he appeared. God could
have healed Jesus’ wounds...God raised Jesus from the dead, so God healed Jesus
from death. God could have chosen to heal the puncture wounds in Jesus’ hands and
the gaping hole from the stab wound in Jesus’ abdomen. Jesus could have just
had scars. Or Jesus could have had restored, unmarred skin. But after his
resurrection, Jesus showed his wounds to his followers.
In today’s post
resurrection reading, Jesus showed his nail punctured hands to his friends. He
showed the gaping hole in his side where the soldiers at the crucifixion
stabbed him. He was one of the
walking wounded. Yet, he was fully restored to life. Jesus was not a
ghost. He could eat a piece of fish.... ghosts cannot eat and do not need to
eat. Jesus was alive again, although his wounds were evidence that he was
crucified and then restored to life. Jesus was wounded, and he came to be
the presence of God among the wounded people of God.
During his ministry years,
Jesus was a healer. He healed people who had illnesses. He healed people who
were blind, paralyzed, or bleeding. He healed people who suffered from mental
illnesses or demon possession. He raised the dead.
In addition to healing
people’s broken bodies, Jesus worked to heal humanity from incorrect thinking
and wrong beliefs. Jesus taught humanity that all people are loved by God and
have access to God’s salvation – before Jesus, the Jewish people believed they
had an exclusive relationship with God and were the only people with access to salvation.
Jesus taught that our
foremost requirement in life is to love our God and love each other....in human
evolution, people have evolved to prefer our own group above all others – in
the past, we would love and protect people like us and people who are part of
our group and would exclude “outsiders” from that love. Jesus offered us a different way of living—instead
of just loving only our group – our families, our neighbors, people who look
like us – Jesus calls upon us to love all other people, and to love all other
people as much as we love ourselves.
Another way Jesus healed us
from incorrect thinking was by teaching humanity how to prioritize the “rules”
that are found in the scripture. When Jesus came to earth, there were divisions
among Jewish people regarding how to apply the
Jewish law to their personal lives. Some people focused on following the rules
even when they did not make sense.... Jesus was criticized for healing a sick
person on the Sabbath, because one of the rules was that you were not supposed to do “work” on the Sabbath.
Jesus taught that love and compassion must be our core guiding principles – he
healed because of his love and compassion for the sick person. Following the
letter of the law is secondary to treating others with love first.
When Jesus was born on earth,
everything that happened to him was deliberate. He chose to be born as a
vulnerable baby. He chose to be raised by humble parents in a little rural
town. He chose to start his ministry far away from the seat of power. He chose
to be born in Israel, as a Jewish kid, in a time when the Roman Empire had power
and control over the land and the people. He chose to be able to experience the
range of human emotions and feelings. He chose not to stop his painful death on
the cross. And he chose to be resurrected again. Everything was deliberate.
Jesus’ wounds were deliberate.
He could have chosen to live in the body of a person but not experience
feelings like a person – Jesus could have avoided pain and suffering and death.
But Jesus chose to be like us....to live a life that included exhaustion,
hunger, pain and hurt. Jesus chose to feel the things we feel. Like the wounded
healer archetype, Jesus chose to experience the wounds that impact humanity so
that Jesus could help us heal from those wounds.
Jesus chose to be like us – to
experience the cost and the joys of humanity. Let us work to be like Jesus. Let us use our painful life events to help other people.
Sometimes, you must go through something to know what it feels like. The people
sitting in this room have personally experienced many wonderful things and many
terrible things. We can be like Jesus by using the experiences we have endured,
scars and all, to help other people who are currently going through those
experiences. We can remind people that life continues, and we endure despite
the challenges we have endured. And we can take heart that we believe in a savior who loved the
people of the world so much that he chose to experience the pain and suffering
we have experienced.
Every challenge we have had is
an experience we can use to help others who are facing the same challenges. Let
us follow Jesus’ command to love our neighbors and work to help them through their challenges.
May we do so with love in our
heart today and all days. Amen.
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